Lovesick Trainwreck
by Snavej
Summary: "You're pathetic." It took almost a minute for the words to register in Gene's head. "Hey! Who are you calling pathetic!" Gene retorted, looking around. But his brother had already left the room. "I'm not pathetic," he mumbled. [I swear this is fluff... There is no angst at all. Definitely no twins fighting...]
1. Chapter 1: Gene

"You're pathetic."

It took almost a minute for the words to register in Gene's head.

"Hey! Who are you calling pathetic?!" Gene retorted, looking around. But his brother had already left the room. "I'm not pathetic," he mumbled.

"Yes, you are!" a voice called from the adjacent room.

Gene jumped up from the kitchen table and sauntered through to the lounge where his brother was reading a book.

"How am I pathetic?"

Oliver rolled his eyes. Gene stuck his head between his brother and the book.

"How am I pathetic?" Gene whined again.

"You sat in the kitchen, staring at the door, for five minutes after he'd left. You were smiling like an idiot and practically drooling."

Oliver pushed his brother away.

"I don't see how smiling and staring at thin air is pathetic," Gene muttered, crossing his arms over his chest and slumping down next to his brother on the sofa.

"Why don't you just ask him out?"

"I can't do that! He might not even like men! Besides, I'll ask him out when you ask Mai out!"

"Now who is assuming that someone likes men," Oliver muttered. "But Mai said Yasuhara is bi and I see no reason she would lie about it."

"She did?" Gene perked up.

"Yes, that's what I just said."

Gene grinned. Oliver rolled his eyes.

"I don't know why you're looking so happy," Oliver began. "Just because he likes men, doesn't mean he'll drop his standards as far as—"

Gene punched Oliver on the arm and Oliver shut up.

"I'm in with a chance," Gene whispered. "I'm going to make dinner, for everyone."

Oliver sighed.

"He's gone to the library for the evening."

"Yes, but he'll be back and potentially hungry! And besides, everyone likes food. It'll make everyone happy."

Oliver, not wanting to directly refuse the offer of Gene cooking, did not argue. Gene pranched back into the kitchen and was soon heard chopping something up.

"When you said 'everyone', you did mean the girls too, right?" Oliver called through some time later.

"Yeah, girls count in the totalling up of people in the house," Gene replied.

"I was just checking in case your idea of 'everyone' only consisted of you and Yasuhara."

"Git."

"I'll text the girls and let them know," Oliver said. "They'll almost be done at badminton by now…"

"Both of the girls?" Gene asked, a delicate inflection in his voice indicating he already knew the answer.

"Why waste two messages when I can send one?"

"Then why don't you send it to the household chat?" Gene suggested. "Or were you dying to send a message just to Mai?"

"Fine, I'll message the group chat, and I'll be sure to mention that Yasuhara needn't hurry home for it," Oliver muttered.

"Git."

 **Oliver: Gene is cooking dinner for everyone, so if you want to think of an excuse to avoid it, you have until you get home.**

Oliver heard Gene's phone go off and a moment later—

"Oi! My cooking is just fine thank you very much!"

 **Masako: Awesome, when's it going to be ready? We've just finished.**

 **Gene: In about twenty minutes, I've just put the pasta on!**

 **Masako: Great!**

Dinner was a dull affair. Gene spent half of the meal staring at the door, waiting for Yasuhara to return. He spent the other half glaring at his twin for not taking this — quite frankly excellent — opportunity to flirt with Mai.

Oliver just ate his food and washed up his plate, then returned to the living room to read. The girls were too involved in their own conversations to notice anything strange.

Once Gene had put away the leftovers, leaving one tub with Yasuhara's name on it, and washed up, he joined his brother in the living room.

"I've had an idea."

Oliver did not look up from his book as he asked, "Does this idea involve me?"

"Uh, no, it would be weird if it did."

"Great."

"Do you want to know what it is?"

"I feel like you're going to tell me regardless of my answer."

Gene pouted indignantly at this.

"I need to let him know I'm interested right? Because unlike you, I want something to happen."

Oliver sighed.

"Was that supposed to provoke a reaction in me?"

"I just gave you the perfect opportunity and you did nothing."

"Mai and Masako were talking, it would have been rude to interrupt."

"You can join a conversation," Gene pointed out.

"About badminton? I have nothing to input on the subject."

"Anyway, back to the point."

"You're going to confess to Yasuhara," Oliver surmised.

"What?! No! That's ludicrous!"

"But you said—"

"I need to tell him I'm interested! But I can't come out right and say it! What if he's not interested back?" Gene shook his head at his brother's ludicrous suggestion.

"Then you get over it?"

"Would you just get over it if Mai told you she didn't like you?" Gene asked.

Oliver shrugged.

"I have no desire to pursue a relationship so I don't see that scenario occurring."

"What?" When Oliver did not react, Gene went on, "You're not going to ask her out?"

"No."

"What if she asked you out?"

"She wouldn't."

"Why not? She likes you!"

"As a friend, at best."

"But—"

"Weren't you telling me your plan to win over Yasuhara?" Oliver asked, redirecting his brother.

"Yes, but—"

"Drop it."

"Fine, but I don't like it." Gene sighed, frowning at his brother. "I read an article after I finished the washing up about how to let someone else know you like them."

"You went to the internet for relationship advice?"

"Well, what would you advise?" Gene retorted.

"Ask Lin."

"What?"

"Ask Lin, he's in a stable relationship and has experience of these matters."

"Is that what you did? And he told you to not pursue things?" Gene asked.

"He told me that I was under no obligation to act on feelings if I didn't want to," Oliver muttered pointedly. "What did this article tell you to do?"

"It had all the usual crap about body language and listening to them but I think I do that anyway. There was a load of other suggestions though, like making a mixtape for—"

"You're going to make Yasuhara a mixtape?" Oliver asked, finally looking up from his book. "You're aware that no one uses cassettes any more right? And his laptop doesn't even have a CD drive…?"

"What? How do you know that?"

"He asked for help in downloading some software," Oliver said, his eyes returning to his book.

"And he asked you?" Gene sounded almost offended.

"Yes."

Gene pouted.

"Fine. Well, I'm going to bed."

"Are you going to sulk because he didn't ask you?"

"No," Gene muttered petulantly.

"Of course."

Gene stalked out of the living room and up to his bedroom. He plugged in his phone, which was in desperate need of charging, and collapsed onto his bed.

"Idiot scientist."

He closed his eyes and groaned.

"I'm going for a shower."

As he stood up, an idea hit him.

 **Gene: Hey Yasuhara, I made dinner for everyone tonight but as you weren't back, I put your portion in the fridge. It's got your name on it, so if you want it, it's all yours!**

He sent the message, put his phone back beside his bed, and headed for the bathroom. Twenty minutes of steaming hot water later, he stepped out of the shower and grabbed his towel. After toweling his hair dry, he wrapped the towel around his waist and secured it.

After cleaning his teeth, Gene left the bathroom to find Yasuhara waiting outside. He gulped and grabbed his towel, fearful of it falling down.

"Eugh, finally, I can do my teeth," Yasuhara muttered, not looking at Gene.

"Oh, sorry," Gene mumbled. "Did you know brushing your teeth is the only time you clean your skeleton?"

Yasuhara looked up, blinked and then burst out laughing. Gene stared, slightly concerned.

"Thanks, I needed to hear that," Yasuhara managed to say between chuckles.

"Rough day?"

"Rough evening," he corrected, then sighed. "You know I said I was going to the library? Well, that was a lie. I was going on a date with this really cute guy but… It didn't work out."

"Oh damn, that sucks," Gene said. "Want to talk about it?"

"Nah I should be used to it by now."

"What do you mean?"

"Lots of gay guys only want to date other gay men. Like I'm not into men enough for them? I don't know," Yasuhara sighed again, "This guy backed right off when I said I'd dated a girl before and back off even more when I clarified that I was bi. Sometimes I wonder about just lying and telling them I'm gay... Sorry, here I am ranting about my issues and you're in a towel."

"It's fine, I don't mind," Gene lied. He did mind, he was quite self conscious that some part of his anatomy might not behave if he stared at Yasuhara too long.

"Either way, I should let you get to bed, it's late. And tomorrow's Saturday, so you have that running thing in the morning, don't you?"

"Yeah, Parkrun, do you want to come?"

"I'm not much of a runner. Well, night."

Yasuhara stepped into the bathroom and shut the door, leaving Gene standing and gawking after him. When he recollected himself, Gene hurried into his room and locked the door behind him.

He finished drying off, hung his towel up and pulled on some boxers before falling onto his bed. His mind reeled with all the information he had just received.

First, he had proof from the man's lips that Yasuhara was definitely interested in men.

Second, some gay men were idiotic dickheads - who would turn Yasuhara down?!

Third, Yasuhara paid enough attention to his life that he knew Gene went running on a Saturday morning.

This last fact sent the butterflies in his stomach into a frenzy. Gene rolled over and giggled into his pillow. Then stopped and cursed himself. Yasuhara was upset about how bad his date went. Gene should not be happy about that fact.

But he was.

"I'm a bad person," he said into the pillow.


	2. Chapter 2: Oliver

" _I have no desire to pursue a relationship..."_

The words echoed around Oliver's head. He hated lying to his brother. But this lie was easier and less painful than the truth.

There were two reasons why he could not pursue a relationship with Mai.

The first was that Mai had applied for the study abroad program at their university. If she got in — and knowing how hard she worked, Oliver saw no reason why she wouldn't — she would be away for the entirety of the next academic year. The idea of being away from her for so long hurt.

The second was that Oliver knew with a reasonable level of confidence that Mai was not interested in him. He knew this because of an event that had occurred a few weeks prior.

He had been in a cafe on campus, reading. Mai had dropped into the seat opposite him with a beaming grin.

"Hi, I'm super sorry to ask this of you but could you just look like you're flirting with me for a few minutes."

It had taken a moment for Oliver to realise what she had asked. As soon as it had clicked, he had hitched a smile on his face and pretended to flirt. Having no idea how to 'flirt' himself, he had just pretended to be his brother, which seemed to work well enough.

While they had been speaking, Mai's eyes kept flicking to where the queue of people waiting to be served there. Oliver had followed her gaze and noticed a tall, athletic looking man who kept looking at Mai. He had concluded that this charade must be for that man's benefit.

"Okay, he's gone. Thank you so much, Oliver, I really appreciate this. I owe you one."

And with that, Mai had jumped up and darted away, latte in hand.

Later that night, while helping Yasuhara with his computer, Oliver had asked him about Mai's behaviour.

"I didn't understand her intentions," Oliver said, eyes focused on the screen in front of him.

"Oh, that's an easy one. She's trying to make the other guy jealous," Yasuhara replied, after Oliver had explained what had happened.

"Jealous? So she likes him?"

"I imagine so, was he attractive?" Yasuhara asked.

Oliver shrugged.

"Well, what did he look like?"

"Tall, athletic, wore a university football shirt, brown hair, I didn't really pay that much attention to him."

"A footballer… Hmm… I think I might know who you mean. Give me a second," Yasuhara mumbled, fumbling for his phone. Oliver kept working on the computer until Yasuhara shoved a Facebook profile under his nose. "Was this him?"

Oliver studied the picture for a bit and nodded.

"I think so."

"Damn, you do have competition, literally everyone in the Athletics club is after this guy," Yasuhara said.

"I am not compet—"

"Oh give over, I know you like Mai."

"She is not a prize to be competed for," Oliver said. "Especially not if she's interested in someone else. Let this finish installing and then restart the laptop, it should be fine."

He stood up and made to leave.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like—" Yasuhara began.

"I know." Oliver sighed. "Let me know if it doesn't work." And he left.

That conversation played through Oliver's mind as he lay on his bed, trying to sleep.

He did not want to admit to Facebook stalking this guy — his name was Marcus and he was a 3rd year Business and Management student — but he had done it to check that this guy was good enough for Mai. Not that it was his place to choose who she could or couldn't date, but if he had been an arsehole — and his Facebook profile implied he was a friendly, helpful person — then Oliver would have maybe done something.

That was a lie. He wouldn't have said anything. It was Mai's choice. He would have just worried about it. A lot.

A buzzing sound drew his attention away from his thoughts. He grabbed his phone and unlocked it.

 **Gene: Would you mind if we had a party tomorrow night?**

 **Oliver: Why?**

 **Gene: Fun?**

 **Oliver: Keep it downstairs and I won't have any part.**

 **Gene: Sure. Thanks, I need the distraction.**

 **Oliver: I wish it were that easy.**

 **Gene: You okay?**

 **Oliver: Yeah, get some sleep.**

 **Gene: Will do, shout if you need me :)**

Oliver half smiled at his phone, locked it and rolled back over.

* * *

Sometimes Oliver doubted his brother's abilities. But even he had to admit he had pulled together a decent party in a very short amount of time. Somehow, he had got enough food, a decent set of speakers and had tidied the living room all before the first guests turned up.

Oliver chose to grab some of the food and retreat to his room. As he made his way down the corridor to the stairs, plate in hand, he spotted Mai just coming down.

"Hey," she said, beaming. "You're not joining us?"

"No, I have some work to do."

She pouted.

"You should have done it earlier."

"I'm sure you'll have fun without me," Oliver said.

"It would be—"

"Mai-chan!"

Mai and Oliver both looked around to see a gaggle of people forcing their way through the door, Marcus included.

"Hi," Mai said to him, smiling.

Oliver's stomach dropped a foot. He slipped past Mai and headed up to his room. He locked the door behind him and dumped the plate of food on his desk, suddenly not as hungry.

"Mai-chan," he mimicked. "We're not in Japan, why is he using honorifics? Eugh."

He slumped into his chair and opened his laptop. He heard music start up from downstairs. Scowling, Oliver opened his lab report and began typing.

It took almost an hour for his stomach to start complaining. When it did, he snacked as he worked, not looking away from the screen.

He worked late into the night, long after the music and raucous sounds from below stopped. He worked until his bladder protested so much it hurt. Only then did he save his report and step away from the laptop. Oliver unlocked his door, went to the toilet and returned.

But someone had invaded.

"Oliver!" Mai squealed, throwing her hands up in some kind of celebration.

"You're drunk," Oliver surmised.

"Masako kept giving me drinks to try and they tasted so nice!" Mai giggled. "We were playing a game but you weren't there to join in! Do you want to play?"

"You should go to bed."

"I'll tell you the rules," she slurred. "Everyone closes their eyes and then you have to kiss the prettiest person in the room."

"That makes no sense."

Mai stepped forwards, staggered and fell back onto Oliver's bed. He sighed.

"I'm going to take you to your own room," Oliver said, walking towards her.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him closer.

"Do you want to play the game? Look! Close your eyes," Mai said. When Oliver refused to close his eyes. She knelt up on his bed, pressing against his chest for balance, and covered his eyes with her hands. "And now I have to kiss the prettiest person in the room!"

Oliver knew he ought to pull away. But he found himself frozen as she pressed her lips against his.

"You're drunk," he said quickly. "Let's get you to bed."

He scooped her into his arms and she giggled.

"Pretty and strong!"

Oliver carried her to her own room, placed her down on her own bed and took off her shoes.

"I don't want to sleep," Mai complained.

"Yes, you do."

"If you say so…"

He covered her with a blanket and turned the light off as he left. After returning to his own room, he turned off his own light and flopped into bed.

Mai had kissed him.

But she had been drunk.

Somehow it broke his heart more than if she had never been there. A tear escaped his left eye and he willed sleep to consume him.

* * *

The next morning, Oliver went down to breakfast to find all four of his housemates nursing hangovers. He had very little sympathy for any of them. He made some toast and was about to return to his room when Mai caught his arm.

"Can I have a word?"

He nodded, and followed her into the hallway, where they were alone.

"About last night," Mai began with a frown. "I have a vague memory of embarrassing myself, is that right?"

"Yes."

"If I did what I think I did, I am really sorry for doing that to you."

"It's fine."

"No, it's not, I shouldn't have done that. And I hate to ask more of you, but can we keep this between us? Please?"

Mai looked up at Oliver with large pleading eyes. He nodded.

"Thank you," she mumbled. "It's just I'd really rather that certain people didn't find out what happened."

"Of course," Oliver managed.

He had been wrong. Last night, his heart might have broken. But now it was a shattered mess.

He did not wait for her to say anything else, but turned and walked away.

* * *

 **Author's note: So this isn't the best thing I've written but I thought I'd share the story with you all for fun. It's almost complete, I shall finish writing it tomorrow night I think. Please review :)**


	3. Chapter 3: Gene

In Gene's humble opinion, there was something deeply wrong with the world. Not only was his head hurting, his hair was a mess and all food tasted like sick, but Yasuhara still looked like a god on earth.

Sure, Yasuhara _said_ his head hurt, but Gene did not feel that his housemate was suffering enough considering how much they had drunk the previous night.

"I am never drinking again," Masako moaned from the sofa. She was clutching a mug of coffee the size of her head like it was a lifeline.

"I'll remind you of that next time you want to go to the badminton socials," Mai mumbled as she re-entered the room.

Ah, Mai, Gene thought, the other reason the world was unfair. He had spent an entire evening watching her be far too nice to some dickhead who appeared to be a perfectly decent bloke.

Why hadn't he pressed Oliver more to join them? How could Mai like that handsome, friendly douchebag instead of his brother?

Gene growled, then winced as the vibrations sent a wave of pain through his head.

The third reason that the world was unfair was that the previous night they had played a very long game of Spin the bottle and not _once_ had he gotten to kiss Yasuhara.

"I'm going back to bed," Gene mumbled. No one replied.

When he reached his bed, he did not attempt to sleep. No, instead he lay there reading articles from Cosmopolitan on 'How to get your crush to notice you'. None of these articles made him feel any better.

The following day did not get any better. Eugene had nothing for lunch, so headed to one of the university cafes. He thought his day was going to improve when Yasuhara entered, spotted him eating at one of the tables and headed over.

"Hey," Gene said between mouthfuls of sandwich. "You alright?"

"Yeah, um, how would you feel about a date?"

Gene choked.

"With—"

"A friend of mine saw your photos from Saturday and thinks you're cute and they asked me about you," Yasuhara went on. "I told them you're gay and—"

"You knew?"

"You have a topless Zac Efron poster in your room so—"

"That's—"

"But anyway, they asked me to set you up if you're interested," Yasuhara finished.

"I— I mean, who is it?"

"You know that guy I went on a date with—"

"The guy who didn't like you because you're bi?" Gene finished with a frown.

"He's a decent bloke really," Yasuhara said earnestly. "And you know, the LGBT+ community has to stick together. Honest, I wouldn't have suggested it if he weren't—"

"You want to set me up with a biphobe?" Gene blinked several times at Yasuhara, as if reassessing him. "Did he blackmail you or something?"

"What? No! But he doesn't like me but he might like you and—"

"He doesn't like you because you might at some point in your life fancy a girl," Gene stated. "That's like you saying you wouldn't ever like me because I might like a redhead or something stupid!"

"Gene, I—"

"You can tell your friend to go and fuck himself. Seriously? How low do you think my standards are that I would date someone like that? The LGBT+ community sticking together means not being an arse about someone else's sexuality."

Suddenly not very hungry, Gene crammed the rest of his sandwich into it's packet and shoved it into his bag. He left Yasuhara looking dumbfounded and headed to his next lecture.

His anger had not dissipated by the time he got home. He found Oliver in the kitchen making tea and immediately recalled everything that had happened at lunch.

"...seriously? If it wasn't bad enough that the guy I like is trying to set me up with someone else, that someone else is a biphobic dickhead!"

"Hmm."

"Can you just pretend for two seconds that you care and that you will give me sympathy?" Gene spat.

"Ahh, there there, poor Gene," Oliver deadpanned.

"Did you listen to anything I just told you?" Gene asked. Somewhere, at the back of his brain, he knew getting angry with his twin was fruitless but he couldn't stop the emotion. "The guy I liked tried to set me up with a biphobic dickhead!" he repeated, for emphasis.

Unbeknownst to either twin, Mai walked into the kitchen with wide eyes at the sound of the raised voices.

"Yeah, I heard," Oliver muttered. "And the girl I like likes someone else entirely. We all have our own issues."

He picked up his cup of tea and stormed from the room, ignoring Mai's presence entirely.

Gene spotted Mai and his anger dissipated.

"Something always gets in the way every time I try to talk to the guy I like," Mai mumbled. "So it's a bad time for love all round, huh…"

"Sorry," Gene mumbled. "It's just really frustrating. Like why would anyone do that? He knows this person is an arse and yet—"

"Maybe he has low self esteem," Mai suggested. "And doesn't realise he doesn't have to help out arseholes."

"But he seems so confident…"

"To you maybe," Mai said. "But I was bullied at school and all the teachers thought I was fine because I was outwardly okay to them, but secretly doing homework for several other people… Maybe this person doesn't want you to worry. Or doesn't want you to bully them either..."

"I shouted at him… Fuck. It just made me so angry! Like the LGBT+ community already have to deal with so much shit, why do we have to hate each other too?"

Mai shrugged.

"People don't want to be at the bottom of the pecking order…"

"There shouldn't have to be a pecking order."

"No, there shouldn't," she agreed. "But not everyone realises that."

* * *

Later that evening, Gene shuffled his way to Yasuhara's door and knocked. He heard a quiet 'come in' and so he did.

"Hey," Gene mumbled. "You okay?"

Yasuhara swung around on his chair and shrugged.

"Look, I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier—"

"You didn't—"

"I definitely raised my voice, far more so than necessary. I took my anger at that dickhead out on you and that wasn't fair of me. You deserve twenty times better than him and anyone should consider themselves lucky to even be friends with you."

"You're too nice, Gene."

"Not at all," Gene said. "I mean every word."

There was a short silence at which neither man quite looked at the other, then Yasuhara sighed.

"Everyone jokes about bisexuals having more people to pick from and all that, but I can't seem to find anyone…"

Gene opened his mouth to speak, then lost his nerve and shut it again.

"Sorry," Yasuhara said. "You came here to apologise and I'm complaining about my pitiful love life."

"It's fine, complain away," Gene said with a forced smile. "I'm always happy to listen."

"I know you are," Yasuhara said. "You're a good friend Gene."

"Thanks," Gene managed to say. "Well if you need me, just shout."

Yasuhara nodded and Gene slipped out of the room. He ran back to his own bedroom and threw himself on his bed.

Yasuhara's words echoed around Gene's head.

"...a good friend…"

"...can't seem to find anyone…"

"I'm right here in front of you," Gene cried into his pillow. He rolled over and faced the ceiling. "I'm right here in front of you," he whispered.

Tears escaped his eyes and he wiped them away angrily.

The bedroom door opened and Gene sat up, turning away from the door so no one would see his face. He heard it shut as he wiped away another tear and turned around to see his brother.

"What do you want?"

"You only slam your bedroom door when you're upset," Oliver stated. He moved over to the bed and perched down. "What's wrong? Is it because I was insensitive earlier?"

"No…" Gene gave up trying hide his tears. "I… I went to apologise to him for yelling at him at lunch and… And he said that he couldn't find anyone and that I was just a friend… I'm standing right in front of him, Noll? Why can't he see me? Why doesn't he like me back?"

Oliver shrugged.

"I don't know."

Gene sighed.

"I know he doesn't have to like me but… It hurts."

Oliver blinked stupidly and bit his lip. He lifted an arm and placed it around his brother's shoulder. Gene leant into the contact.

"I'm sorry, Noll."

"It's okay. You're allowed to be upset. Isn't that what you tell me?"

"I didn't realise you listened."

"I do," Noll insisted. Gene raised eyebrow. "Sometimes."

Gene chuckled.

Before he could say anything, Oliver's phone began vibrating. He pulled away from his brother and looked to see who was calling.

"It's Masako…" Oliver said.

"Answer it?"

Oliver answered it on speakerphone.

"Oliver? Are you there?" It was Mai's voice.

"Why are you using Masako's phone?"

"Oh, long story, I dropped mine and—" A muffled voice in the background interrupted Mai. "Yeah, sorry. Um, quick question, are your parents, as owners of the house, against us having pets?"

"What?"

"I promise to clear up after her but—"

"What pet?" Gene asked.

"Gene? What are you doing there?"

The twins shared a look — she could tell who was who _over the phone?!_

"Skip to the point," Gene said. "What pet?"

"Okay well I dropped my phone on the way back from the library and when I found it we might have found a litter of abandoned kittens but two of them are dead and the other one is still alive and we fed it some food from the corner shop but I don't want to give it to a shelter and—"

"You're going to clear up all of its mess and if it gets into my room, you will be cleaning it," Oliver stated.

He hung up.

"We're getting a cat!" Gene said, grinning.

"No, Mai is getting a cat," Oliver corrected.

"Are you kidding? If she gets a kitten, I want one!"

Oliver rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure you can share her cat."

"I'm glad you said 'cat' and not 'pussy'—"

Oliver pushed his brother over, and left the room.

* * *

 **Author's note: So I'm writing chapter 8 of this right now and thought I'd upload this while I paused. And this story really ought to be called "well that escalated quickly" because I swear the later chapters are just ridiculous. Yasuhara is literally calling the police. So... Review?**


	4. Chapter 4: Oliver

Oliver was never going to admit out loud that the kitten was adorable. Mai had named her Luna and spent the rest of the evening cooing after the animal. The arrival of the kitten had done wonders for the mood in the household.

The following day, Mai had wanted to stay home and skip lectures. But Oliver, who genuinely did not have any, insisted that she go and that he would look after Luna.

This had not involved much at first. Luna, who was much older than Oliver had expected her to be when Mai had said 'kitten' on the phone, pottered about and napped. It was only when she relieved herself on the — thankfully tiled — kitchen floor that he took action.

Despite stating that Mai would have to clear up, Oliver could not bear the smell and so wiped up after the kitten. They needed a litter tray. And a proper cat food bowl. And had Luna been vaccinated? And chipped?

Sighing, Oliver scooped the kitten up and plopped her in an old Amazon box. He carried her out to the twins' car and deposited her inside. He knew there was a pet store with a built-in vet a ten minutes drive away.

Luna tried a few times to escape the box during the drive, but Oliver pushed her back inside at every red light.

When he arrived, the place was mercifully empty. Oliver was able to ask for a full check up of the kitten without any waiting time. While the vets did their job, he perused the pet shop and bought a carry cage, a litter tray, some cat litter, some big bags of cat food, and maybe one or two — or ten — cat toys.

It was only as he got to the checkout he remembered to pick up a collar.

When he returned to the vet, they had finished. He was greeted by a young woman, who he guessed was a student vet by the way they had another older person watching over them.

"So we have vaccinated Luna, and given her a check over. She's healthy, if a little skinny. We don't have time to spay her today, but you can phone up and book her in for that soon. She's not old enough for that to be an issue just yet, so you have a little time. I've chipped her, but I need some details from you to log in the system."

Oliver blinked.

"I will not be her owner."

"Then the owner's details," the vet corrected with an awkward smile.

Oliver listed Mai's details.

"We can put you down as a secondary contact if you want? It would be good if your housemate can't be reached to have a second person."

Oliver opened his mouth to refuse, but as he began to speak, he changed his mind.

"N— Okay then. This can be changed later though, right?"

"Yes, just pop in."

Once all done and paid for, Oliver put Luna in her new carry cage. He departed with a very loud kitten — who liked being stabbed anyway? — and returned home. He had wasted an entire morning on this endeavour and he would now have to spend all afternoon working to make up for it.

But when he got home, all was not well.

"Oliver! You're home!" Mai sounded panicked. "I can't find Luna anywhere!"

"She's here," Oliver stated. "Can you take her, I need to get some stuff out of the car."

He held out the carry cage to her, but Mai did not move to take it.

"What did you do?" she asked with a gormless expression.

"I took her to the vets. She's been vaccinated and chipped, you need to phone up to organise neutering."

"You did?" The surprised was evident in her voice.

"Ye—"

Before Oliver could finish, Mai had thrown her arms around him and hugged him tight.

"Thank you so much! Have you eaten? Let me make something for you for lunch! I've got some people round to study so it's no trouble! Oh, you're the best!"

She released him and grinned. Oliver smiled and nodded.

"Lunch would be great," he said, ignoring the warm fuzzy feeling in his stomach — it was probably hunger pains.

"Do you need any help getting stuff in? What stuff? You didn't—"

"I bought a litter tray and a few bits," Oliver said.

"I have to pay you back, how much was it?" Mai asked as she took the carry cage from Oliver and peeked in at Luna.

"Lunch and a cup of tea and we're even."

Oliver brought in the rest of the stuff and made to leave it in the living room, but he found an unwelcome guest at the dinner table.

Masako and another girl were both working quietly. But at the other end of the table was Marcus, who was animatedly talking to Mai.

Oliver barely contained his scowl.

"...I can help you with lunch if you like, Mai-chan?"

"Oh, it's fine, I—" Mai began, but he cut her off.

"You're such a good host, please let me—"

Oliver had had enough.

"I already offered to help Mai," Oliver said. "There isn't enough room in the kitchen for all of us."

Mai looked to Oliver and beamed.

"But you've done so much already for Mai," Marcus said. "Why don't you take a break and—"

"I'm fine, but thank you for your consideration." Oliver forced a smile and then turned to Mai. "I'll just put my jacket in my room, I'll be down in a few." He turned back to Marcus. "If you still want to be helpful, you could set up the litter tray?"

He did not wait for a reply, but headed straight to his room. He dumped his stuff on the bed and pulled off his jeans in favour for pyjama bottoms.

Had the grateful look Mai had sent him been imaginary? Had it just been wishful thinking?

Oliver sighed and headed back downstairs.

Marcus had joined Mai in the kitchen and was talking at her.

"Oliver!" Mai said, interrupting the flow of Marcus's words. "Great, you're tall, can you get the pan down for the pasta?"

"Pasta? Aren't we having sushi?" Marcus asked.

Mai and Oliver both stared at him, before Mai forced a laugh.

"You're so funny, why don't you get back to work and we'll be through with food soon?"

Mai ushered him from the kitchen and shut the door behind him. Oliver watched as she visibly deflated in relief.

"Sushi?" she hissed. "Is he serious?"

"Does he not realise it would take time to cook the rice and let it cool?" Oliver asked.

"Apparently not. Nor does he realise that I can't afford the decent quality fish for it either." Mai rolled her eyes. "I don't really need your help, I just wanted him gone. He doesn't listen to me but he'll listen to you because you're a man."

Oliver frowned.

"I thought he liked you?"

Mai groaned as she grabbed some vegetables from the fridge.

"He does, too much, that's the—"

She was cut off by the door opening.

"I just want to grab a drink," Marcus said. "Then I'll be out of your hair."

Mai and Oliver waited without saying anything. Once Marcus had left with his water, Oliver shut the door again.

"You know, at Halloween, he suggested that I wear a sailor suit costume," Mai muttered. "And when he first met me, he spoke to me in really bad Japanese."

"Why?"

"Well at first I thought he was studying it, like as an optional course? And that he just wanted to practice. But it turned out he's just really into asian girls. He only left Masako alone because she shouted that she was a lesbian at him."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because if he thought we were both lesbians I can bet you he would have asked us to make out for him to watch."

Oliver's frown deepened.

"Yasuhara said he was a nice person."

"Yeah, because to all the guys he is. It's like he's saving his creepiness up just for me," Mai muttered. "Sorry, you don't want to hear this."

"Why is he here then?"

"Because Masako was talking to Sophie about having a study afternoon and he overheard and eugh."

"You were too nice to say no?"

Mai nodded bitterly.

"Do you want me to ask him to leave?" Oliver asked.

"No, it's fine. He'll get bored of me soon enough, I hope."

Oliver leant against the work surface and Mai continued to cook. It was slowly sinking in that Mai did not like Marcus. Hope rose in Oliver's stomach before he reminded himself of Mai's study abroad application. As if she read his mind, Mai brought up the subject herself.

"I just hope he doesn't get onto the study abroad program if I do. Or that he does and I don't," she muttered.

"He applied?"

"Oh yes. What's worse is he'll probably get it too. Because he's a very well rounded student and all that. He's on the football team. I'm not on any teams."

"Won't they want to keep him for the team?"

"That's what I'm hoping," Mai said.

"When do you find out?"

"Week before we break for the winter holidays," Mai replied.

"So next week?"

Mai looked around at Oliver and blinked.

"Shit. Yes. That's crept up on me."

"What will you do if you don't get on?" Oliver asked.

"Stay here? I presume your parents will let me keep my room?"

"Of course they will. They'd probably let you leave it full of your stuff while you were away if you needed it."

"That'd be nice. It'd make my life easier."

Oliver smiled. Mai's cheeks flushed pink and she turned back to her cooking.


	5. Chapter 5: Gene

When Gene arrived home from university, he found his brother being more sociable than he'd seen him all year. Which considering that it was the second week of December, was quite a feat. Especially considering there were five — six if Gene was included — people in the room.

"Hey everyone," Gene said.

Everyone looked up from their work.

"Hi Gene," Mai replied. "Look what Oliver got for Luna!"

She pointed to the pile of cat toys. Gene looked at the toys, the sleeping cat in the cardboard box next to them and then to his twin. He raised an eyebrow. Oliver scowled.

"That was so sweet of him," Gene said.

"Wasn't it just?" Mai agreed. "Also, how do you feel about a house meal this evening? You know, just us housemates together?" She stressed the word 'housemates' a little too much.

Gene glanced around the table, spotted Marcus, then nodded.

"Yeah, sounds nice. Want me to cook? I don't feel like working right now."

"Would you? That'd be great."

"Yes, why doesn't Yasuhara help you when he gets back?" Oliver suggested.

Now it was Mai's turn to frown.

"I wouldn't want to burden him," Gene said. "I'll change and get started. Shouldn't be too long so you might want to wrap it up here."

"I'll show Marcus out," Oliver offered.

Marcus looked up at the mention of his name.

"But—"

"It's been so nice to see you," Mai said quickly with a forced smile. "I'll see you soon, right?"

"Uh, right, yeah."

Gene sidled out of the room, smirking. He changed into loungewear and by the time he returned downstairs, Marcus was gone and Sophie was packing up.

"You don't have to leave," Gene said quickly.

"Yeah I just wanted rid of him," Mai added, sinking back into her own chair.

"Oh, it's fine, I don't want to—" Sophie began.

"Stay," Masako muttered. "Your bus isn't for another half an hour anyway."

Sophie smiled awkwardly and stayed in her chair. Gene grinned at her, then darted into the kitchen.

"So does this mean I don't have to cook for everyone? If we were just getting rid of—"

"Oh no, you're definitely cooking!" Mai called through.

"Agreed," Masako echoed.

"You're washing up then!"

Gene heard the girls laugh and he started finding ingredients. A little while after he had started, Mai joined him.

"You done working?" he asked.

"So done." Mai sighed. "What was Oliver's comment about?"

Oliver had not returned from showing Marcus out yet, but even still, Mai kept her voice low.

"Nothing," Gene said hastily.

Mai raised an eyebrow at him. When he still said nothing, Mai sidled up to him and stared pointedly until he felt compelled to speak.

"Fine!" He threw his hands up in the air. "I might have a bit of a crush on him. And Oliver might've made that suggestion to help me out… Sort of… Ish..."

"That's really nice of him."

"Yeah," Gene agreed. "But it's kind of frustrating."

"Why?"

"Well, aside from the fact that Yasuhara sees me only as a friend, Noll likes y— someone but he's not doing anything about it. He could be happy with them but… I dunno."

"Maybe he has his reasons?" Mai suggested weakly. She bit her lip. "I think you and Yasuhara would make a cute couple."

"Thanks."

"Have you… Have you thought about telling him that you like him?" Mai asked.

"Would you do that to the guy you have a crush on?"

Mai bit her lip again.

"I… I might? If the circumstances were right?" she mumbled. "The other day I thought… Well, maybe one day?"

"Yeah," Gene agreed. "Maybe one day."

He continued cooking.

"Say, Gene?"

"Hmm?"

"Who does Oliver like?"

Gene did not look round. He stared down at the vegetables that he had been stirring around the pan and swallowed.

"Promise you won't tell?"

"Promise."

Gene lowered his voice.

"He likes you."

"Oh."

Gene looked up and his eyes widened. Not at the look of surprise on Mai's face — surprise that was slowly morphing into something like happiness — no, his eyes had widened because behind Mai, standing in the doorway with his shirt collar askew was—

"Noll, I—"

"Forget it," Oliver muttered. "I don't want to hear it."

Mai spun around and squeaked. The twins ignored her.

"I'm s—"

"You had no right to do that."

"Noll!"

But Oliver had already stormed away. Gene pushed past Mai to follow. Masako and Sophie had looked up from their work, watching first as Oliver departed and then as Gene joined them.

"This is why I am a lesbian," Masako muttered. "Boys are so much drama."

Gene ignored her.

"Maybe give him some time alone?" Mai suggested from behind Gene.

He turned to face her and felt anger boiling up inside him. Not at her, never at her, but at himself.

"I'm going to finish cooking. I'd appreciate some time alone."

Gene returned to the kitchen, shut the door behind him and picked up the wooden spoon. He pushed the vegetables around the pan without much thought to what he was actually doing.

"Why did I have to open my big, fat mouth?" he growled. "Why couldn't I just not say anything? Noll is going to hate me."

He continued to brood while cooking for a good five minutes before he felt his phone vibrate. Taking a deep breath, he put down the wooden spoon and fished his phone from his pocket.

It was the house group chat.

 **Oliver: Gene fancies Yasuhara.**

 _Read: Everyone._

"Fuck."

Gene blinked.

"Fuck!"

He turned the heat off on the food. Screw the food. He left the kitchen and strode past the girls, oblivious to their gaze. He made his way to the stairwell when Yasuhara entered through the front door.

"Gene?" Yasuhara said. "What does this message mean?"

He was holding his phone up to display the group chat. But Gene ignored him too. He stomped up the stairs and tried to open Oliver's door.

It was locked.

"Let me in," Gene demanded, banging on the wood so that the door vibrated in its frame. When Oliver did not respond immediately. Gene hit the door again. "Let me in, you ba—"

The door opened.

Gene burst inside and squared up to his brother.

"What the hell was that?" he shouted.

"You started it."

"That didn't mean you had to go and—"

"Go and what? Even the playing field?"

"It was completely fucking unnecessary!"

"So was telling Mai! Did you even stop and think for a second?" Oliver balled his fists up.

"I was trying to help you!"

"Help me? Help me how?" Oliver began to lose control over the volume of his voice. "I told you I didn't want anything to happen!"

He pushed Gene away from him.

Gene's eyes widened in shock.

"You pushed me?"

Oliver looked surprised about this fact too.

"Y-yeah. What are you going to do about it?"

"I— I'll tell Mum."

"You would run and tell Luella," Oliver spat.

"Well at least she actually likes me!" Gene shouted. "I'm the reason they adopted us! Not you!"

He slapped a hand over his mouth as soon as he finished speaking.

"Noll, I didn't—"

Oliver punched his twin square on the jaw. Gene reeled backwards. He staggered and clutched at his face.

"You!"

Gene pushed off the wall and threw himself at Oliver. He swung his fist upward and into Oliver's stomach. Oliver doubled over with a grunt. He crumpled to the floor, clutching his stomach.

"Shit, Noll I—"

Oliver clambered to his feet and started forwards, one hand still resting protectively over his stomach. Gene stared unmoving with wide eyes as Oliver gasped for breath, his other hand raised in a limp fist.

"Noll, let's just stop th—"

The next thing Gene knew was some warm grotesque goo covering his face. For a moment he was not sure it was there. Until he realised he could not breathe. The goo had covered his nose and mouth. He gasped for air and some entered his mouth. Gene clawed blindly at his face and he felt lumps of something soft and squidgy on his skin. He leant forwards, trying to find air. Trying to find something to rid his mouth of the taste.

He could hear voices but could not distinguish them.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he pushed them away.

"Get off me!"

"Gene, I'm trying to help you, you prat."

It was Masako.

"I'm going to guide you to the shower."

She pulled his hand none too gently and Gene let her lead him away. She bundled him into the shower fully clothed and turned it on. Gene squealed at the cold, but quickly took advantage of the high pressure flow to wash off the vomit. He gargled water to rid his mouth of the taste of his brother's sick.

"That was disgusting."

"You deserved it."

Gene, now able to open his eyes without getting vomit in them, glanced around at Masako.

"How did I—"

"You told your brother that his own mother didn't like him."

"But he—"

"Told the guy you fancied that you like him?" Masako raised an eyebrow. "Is that really all that bad? Yasuhara was literally the only person that didn't know."

Gene had no answer.

"But you just told a guy who already has abandonment issues that his own mother doesn't like him? And that the only reason he was adopted was because of you, and not him? Bit of a low blow there."

Masako did not wait for Gene to try and defend himself. She left him standing in the shower, cold, wet and alone.

* * *

 **Author's note: Oops?**


	6. Chapter 6: Oliver

He fell to the floor as soon as the vomit had cleared his mouth. Wheezing, he heard Masako call Gene a prat and lead him away.

Oliver wanted to shout after his brother, but he could not find the words.

He felt a soft hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Sophie, Masako's friend.

"Here." She offered him a tissue.

Oliver took it with a murmur of thanks and wiped his mouth. He forced himself into a sitting position and put his head between his knees.

"Apologies for Gene's behaviour," Oliver muttered.

"There's no need to apologise."

Oliver did not bother to correct her.

"I'm going to get you some water, okay?"

He nodded as Sophie left. Oliver forced himself to concentrate on his breathing. He spotted some of his own vomit on the carpet and sneered at the smell. He coughed and moaned in pain as his chest spasmed.

"Is it true?"

Oliver closed his eyes. That was the last voice he wanted to hear.

"Is what true?"

"Do you… Do you like me?"

The quivering in Mai's voice made Oliver feel sick again.

"That's what Gene said, isn't it?"

Releasing the venom he felt in his voice did nothing to make Oliver feel any better.

"But you said you didn't want anything to happen?"

"Because what Gene said was just that," Oliver spat.

"Huh?"

"It's just what he said. There is no truth behind it. Now if you don't mind, I've just been punched in the stomach and I have puke on my floor. Please leave."

Oliver, out of the corner of his eye, saw Mai flinch at his words. She grabbed his door handle and pulled the door shut as she left. He heard sobs and was only slightly surprised to find they were not his own.

The sobs quietened and Oliver guessed that Mai had left for her own room. He pushed his head back and stared at the ceiling. Quiet anger simmered in his stomach. But with every spasm of his diaphragm it threatened to boil over.

And to make everything one hundred times better, Masako burst in.

"Wow, so everything really has fallen to shit, huh?" she said, not expecting an answer. "Sophie left, by the way, here's your water. The whole thing freaked her out a little."

Oliver looked at the glass of water she had placed on the floor but did not move towards it.

"So Mai is balling her eyes out. She likes you, you know? Or she did, I don't know how she'll feel after that little stunt though."

"I don't care."

"Of course you don't," Masako muttered. "Just like Gene doesn't care that you're hurt and it's all his fault."

Oliver growled at the mention of his brother.

"Good aim on the vomit by the way, he totally deserved that."

Oliver rolled his eyes.

"I want to know something. If I fix everything, which I think I'm going to have to do," Masako said. "Are you going to accept Gene's apology?"

"No."

Masako rolled her eyes.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want anything to do with him."

"Because he told Mai that you liked her? Which, for the record, we all knew. Well, all of us apart from Mai."

"He said that—"

"He lied to upset you. You know that right?"

"I don't care. Go away."

"Fine."

When Oliver next looked up, Masako had gone and Oliver regretted telling her to leave. He wanted her to stay so he could shout at her too. Pain in his chest flared at the thought of Gene's words.

" _...Well at least she actually likes me..._ "

He blinked away tears. Oliver reached for his phone and subconsciously unlocked it. He looked down to see his mother's contact details. His thumb hovered over the call icon.

" _...I'm the reason they adopted us…_ "

He wiped his eyes.

" _...Not you..._ "

He pressed the icon. He listened to it ring with an empty feeling in his chest. Luella picked up after a few rings.

"Noll? What do you want? I'm just trying to—

"Mum, do you have a minute?"

That one word had a profound affect over Luella.

"Of course I do, one moment. Martin, dear, can you just watch the bolognaise?" Oliver heard some bustling. "Noll, I'm here, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"I… Why did you adopt me?"

"What's brought this up? We adopted you both because we cared about you!"

"No, why did you adopt _me_?"

"Because I wanted to help you. I could see you needed someone to watch over you and I thought that we, Martin and I, could do it."

"Do you like me?" Oliver asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Of course I do, I love you Noll. Why are you asking this? Have you had a fight with Gene?"

"No."

"Oliver, I am your mother, I know when you're lying."

"He said that he was the only reason you adopted me too."

Oliver could almost hear his mother pursing her lips.

"That was wrong of him. What brought it up?" Luella asked.

"I pushed him."

"You pushed him?"

"He told everyone a secret I had. So I told everyone a secret of his. So he yelled at me. So I pushed him. And then he said you didn't like me. So I punched him. And he punched me back and I threw up on him. Masako dragged him away after that."

"Well at least someone in that household has some sense." Luella sighed. "Noll, you shouldn't have resorted to violence."

"I know. But the words wouldn't come out. It all built up and…"

"It's okay. I understand. Can I ask one more question?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did Gene tell your secret?"

"He… He thought he was helping. But he wasn't. He's just made everything awkward."

Luella sighed again.

"Just remember he was trying to help. I'll have a word with him."

"Don't. I don't want him to think I'm tale-telling on him."

"Don't worry, Noll. Everything will be okay."

"I'm sorry for bothering you," Oliver mumbled.

"This really has got to you, hasn't it? Here you are apologising! You have nothing to apologise for. You said he punched you, are you hurt?"

"I'll be okay…"

"If you say so, get some rest okay?"

"Okay. Love you, Mum."

"I love you too, Noll."

Oliver hung up. He wiped away tears and pulled himself onto his bed. He pushed his socks off his feet and grabbed his weighted blanket.

He wanted to sleep. Sleep and wake up and find that none of this had ever happened. He would have to get up early in the morning so he could avoid everyone. Masako was likely fed up with him. Mai would cry. And Gene…?

Oliver did not know what to expect from him. Why had he done it? Oliver could not understand it. It was not like Mai had been torturing the information out of him.

If only Marcus had not insisted on talking to him so much while he showed him from the house. 'Talking to' was generous. 'Talking at' might have been a better term. But if he had been quicker, Oliver might have interrupted Gene and Mai's conversation in time.

Marcus had boasted the entire way to the door about something Oliver cared nothing for. Sports maybe. His hearing only switched back on when he had heard Mai's name.

"She likes me, you know," Marcus had said.

"What?"

"Mai, she's really into me. So I think you should back off of her."

Oliver had blinked stupidly at that point.

"I think you're mistaken."

Marcus had grabbed Oliver's collar and stepped closer.

"You should back off of my girl," he had growled. "Or you'll have me to answer to."

And with that, he had pushed Oliver away and walked off.

Unsure how to react to the entire ordeal, Oliver had returned to the kitchen to find Gene spilling his secrets. Threatened, betrayed and assaulted in one evening.

Oliver rolled over to his other side.

Mai's face popped into his mind's eye and he swallowed hard. He could see her flinch at his words. He could hear hear sobs echoing in his mind. The only consolation he could think of was that if she hated him — which he suspected she might now — that she would stay away from him. Hopefully she would get onto the year abroad programme and he would just get over her.

She was just a girl.

How hard could it be? He knew loads of other girls. Masako. His mother. Madoka. That friend of Masako's…

Oliver frowned. Not sure what his addled brain was trying to convince himself of. Those other girls weren't the same as Mai.

They didn't have her laugh. They didn't ask questions in that innocent voice she had. They weren't cute in the same way Mai was…

"Feelings are stupid. I hate them."

Finally, his thoughts turned to his brother. He knew that Gene had been trying to help. He also knew that Gene sometimes struggled with social interactions too. Not quite in the same way as Oliver did. But…

Oliver wondered if Gene was crying right now. He did not know if he wanted Gene to be upset.

Emotions sucked.

And with that, Oliver turned over and tried to sleep.

* * *

 **Author's note: That bit where Oliver called Luella "mum" _breaks my heart_ okay?!**


	7. Chapter 7: Masako

The next day was super awkward for everyone. Masako rose and watched her housemates tiptoe around each other. Everyone was walking on eggshells. Everyone, that is, apart from her…

Oliver was first to leave the house, followed closely by Yasuhara. Gene headed straight for the door without even eating — though Masako supposed being vomited on might do that to a person — and Mai rolled down the stairs in her pyjamas at half ten.

"Don't you have a lecture?" Masako asked from the dining room table.

"I'm skipping, they're recording this one anyway so I can watch it later."

"Don't skip because of a boy."

"I'm not skipping because of a boy," Mai moaned. "I'm skipping because I got no sleep."

"Because of a boy."

"Because of two boys."

"You're upset because of both of them?" Masako asked, frowning.

"What? Oh no, not the twins. Gene… I don't have enough brain capacity for him as well right now. No. Marcus messaged me."

Mai unlocked her phone, pulled up the message and showed it to Masako.

 **Marcus: Hey Mai! I just found out I got accepted for Singapore! What about you? Can we go together? X 3**

Mai had not replied.

"Didn't you apply to Singapore?"

"Yeah, Singapore and California. But I haven't heard anything. I mean that's not a rejection but they said they weren't sending out the results until next week but maybe they changed their mind but I really don't want to go if he's going and—"

"Breathe, Mai. Wait until you get your results. There is no point panicking now."

Mai nodded and flicked the kettle on.

"Do you want a cup of tea?"

"No, but I'll have a coffee," Masako muttered. She downed her pen and pushed her work away from her a little. "Regardless of the outcome, you need to do something about Marcus. He's seriously grating on my nerves and I don't even talk to him."

"I don't know what to do," Mai muttered. "He just doesn't listen to me."

"Maybe you should do an Oliver and puke on him."

"You know, if I could projectile vomit at will, I probably would."

The two young women laughed a little. The kettle boiled. Mai made the drinks and brought them over to the table, where she sat down.

"If only Oliver wasn't being such an arse about this whole thing. I had half a thought that Marcus might leave you alone if you and Oliver got together," Masako mumbled.

Mai's expression soured.

"He made it quite clear last night that he's not interested in me."

Masako rolled her eyes.

"Mai, you can't expect him to open up about his feelings when his own brother just opened up the whole can of worms that is his insecurity. He obviously likes you. Everyone knows it."

"Then why was he so upset that Gene told me?" Mai asked. "Is he ash—"

"No. But think about it. You applied for the year abroad programme. Starting a relationship just before being away for a year is hard. I can see why he didn't pursue anything…"

Mai's mouth fell open to form a little 'o'.

"I… So what do I do?"

"Do? Nothing really. If he really doesn't want to start a relationship then you can't force him to," Masako said. "But if you don't get in then… Maybe try something then? I don't know."

Mai decided to change the subject.

"Is Sophie okay?"

"Yeah, she was feeling awkward as hell after everything so I suggested she go home… I don't think she'll want to visit for a bit."

"That sucks…"

"Yeah, it does," Masako agreed. "I never thought I'd go for a ginger but…"

Mai's eyes widened.

"Oh my! You like her!"

"Well duh."

"Damn you should have said something! I didn't even realise, I'm such a bad friend! I should have left you two alone yesterday!"

"And left you to endure Marcus alone? I'm not that cruel," Masako replied.

"I mean I'm grateful and all but—"

"Mai, chill. It's fine. Besides, I'm going to take her to the cinema at the end of term. She's not a big drinker so I thought it'd be a cute date…"

"Does she know it's a date?"

"It's just two gals being pals," Masako said defensively.

"Oh Masako, you are a wonder."

Masako finished her drink in a silence that Mai seemed unwilling, at first, to break.

"Do you… Do you think the twins will make up?" Mai whispered, as if saying it too loud would curse something.

"They will. I think. Oliver needs to calm down and then Gene needs to apologise and… Eugh I don't know. Gene was way out of line. He knows that. But Oliver is really good at pretending he doesn't care about something."

"Tell me about it," Mai muttered.

"But we all know he does care about Gene. So maybe…"

Another silence enveloped them.

"What Oliver said about Gene liking Yasuhara is true, you know," Mai said. "He told me right before he… Well yeah."

"Well duh. Gene isn't exactly subtle. It's only because Yasuhara has no self esteem that he didn't realise what those looks meant."

Mai huffed.

"That might still work out through right?"

"I don't know," Masako admitted. "Yasuhara seemed rather confused last night. Like he was told Gene liked him and then Gene didn't exactly… Well he straight up ignored him when Yasuhara asked about it. It's not really a good sign."

"Boys are the worst. I'm going to make breakfast. Do you want anything?"

"Nah, I'm good."

* * *

The rest of the day was quiet for Masako. When her housemates began arriving home, they all retreated to their individual rooms. All apart from Yasuhara, who crept into the kitchen to cook.

"Hey."

Yasuhara almost jumped out of his skin.

"Hey, Masako, you alright?"

"Yeah, you?"

"Yeah…"

Masako could practically sense the question coming — since when had she become the house agony aunt?

"Do you… Do you know why Gene acted the way he did?"

Masako sighed, heavily.

"I can guess," she said. "I might have overheard Gene moaning a while back about the fact that you only saw him as a friend? Which if he likes you is probably gonna bum him out? And so he probably didn't want you knowing he liked you? I don't know, why don't you just ask him?"

Yasuhara opened his mouth, closed it again, pushed his glasses up his nose and coughed.

"I, uh…" He pushed his glasses up his nose again. "I didn't think now was the best time all things considering…"

Masako considered this for a moment.

"True… Eugh. We just need to get this sorted. Go and sit in the lounge I'm getting everyone down here."

"But—"

"Just do it. I'm going to get this crap sorted out."

Masako stood up, packed away her work and retreated to her room. She dumped her stuff on her bed, took a deep breath and then rounded up her housemates.

Mai refused to come until Masako half picked her up out of her chair. Gene did not argue, but did not hasten in any way. Oliver straight up ignored Masako until she threatened to call Luella.

No one in the lounge wanted to sit next to anyone else. Masako groaned at how awkward all of her housemates were being, but carried on regardless.

"Right, who wants to go first?"

No one answered.

"Alright, alphabetical it is," Masako muttered. "Gene—"

"What? No!"

"You've caused most of the trouble here, I think starting with you is fair."

Gene stopped protesting.

"So have you got anything you want to say to anyone?"

"This is ridiculous, I'm leav—" Oliver attempted to stand up, but Masako silenced him with a glare.

"I will phone your mother. Sit down."

Oliver scowled, but remained seated.

"Noll… Noll, I'm sorry," Gene mumbled. "I ignored your wishes and I pushed my nose in where it wasn't wanted. I shouldn't have said what I did about Mum. It was a lie. I was upset and I wanted to hurt you. I was wrong and I'm sorry."

Everyone turned expectantly to Oliver, who had looked away pointedly.

"Yasuhara," Gene went on, ignoring Oliver's sullen mood, "I'm sorry for ignoring you yesterday. I've had the biggest crush on you for forever and… Well you've made it clear that I'm just a friend and I respect that and I didn't deal with yesterday particularly well… I want to still be friends, if that's okay with you?"

Yasuhara awkwardly nodded.

"Great," Masako said, hands on hips. "Who's next? Yasuhara, you don't really have any beef in any of this—"

"I can hear Luna meowing," Mai piped up, "Can I—"

"Yasuhara, can you go and deal with Luna please?" Masako said, smiling sweetly.

Mai scowled. Yasuhara jumped up to leave.

"I'll take care of her, Mai, don't worry."

He left.

"Mai," Masako went on as if Yasuhara had not spoken, "Why don't you go next?"

"I don't really have anything to—"

"Yes, you do."

Mai scowled again.

"I hate you sometimes."

Masako grinned.

* * *

 **Author's note: So I broke away from the twins POV... And haven't gone back yet... I want to get this finished before Camp Nanowrimo starts in July so we'll see how that goes!**


	8. Chapter 8: Mai

"I hate you sometimes."

Mai saw her supposed best friend grin and she rolled her eyes.

"Fine! Oliver. I've liked you for ages. But I was too wimpy to say anything. And then when I did buck up the courage stuff got in the way. Mainly Marcus, that idiot. I was… I was happy when Gene told me you liked me too. But I get it. You don't want to pursue anything. I'll get over it." Mai looked expectantly at Masako. "Happy?"

"Delighted." Masako turned to Oliver. "It's your turn."

"You can't make me do anything."

"No, I can't," Masako agreed. "But for the sake of peace within the household, we're all going to wait here until you say something."

"I have nothing to confess."

"Do you have a reply to either Gene or Mai's statements?"

"No."

Masako raised an eyebrow that Oliver ignored. Mai sighed. How could she like someone so stubborn?

"You really have nothing to say to me?" Mai asked.

"Why would I? You're not the first person to think they like me when they actually like Gene. What is the point in my replying to that?"

"Noll—"

"Don't tell me who I do and don't like, Oliver," Mai muttered. "I know the difference between you both and I know full well which idiot I like. Or are you just deflecting because you think I might be going abroad? Is that it?"

Oliver twitched at this.

"What would you say if I weren't going abroad?" Mai went on.

"There is no point contemplating it," Oliver muttered. "You're a hard worker and a good student, there is no reason why you wouldn't be picked."

"Humour me."

"Why?" Oliver asked, and his voice broke a little. "I am not suited for relation—"

"Bullshit."

"It is not. I often fail to express myself and I am bound to screw up," Oliver retorted. "I do not want to cause you any pain and—"

"You're causing me pain now!" Mai shouted. "It hurts that you won't give us a chance."

"I'm sorry."

Mai deflated. She took a deep breath and wiped away a stray tear.

"I understand. I'm sorry you feel that way. If you change your mind…" She looked up at Masako. "Can I go now?"

Masako nodded.

Mai stood up and left the room. She found Yasuhara in the dining room with Luna, playing with one of the cat toys.

"I heard raised voices," Yasuhara prompted.

"Yeah… I shouldn't have shouted."

"It's fine," Yasuhara said. "Sometimes you have to shout to be heard."

Mai dumped her phone on the table and walked into the kitchen.

"Do you want a cup of tea?"

"Yeah, please," Yasuhara replied. Mai heard him groan as he stood up. "My legs are so stiff. Luna, no! Luna, that's my trousers."

Mai smiled to herself. She made two cups of tea and brought them through. Luna had moved on to attacking something else and Yasuhara joined Mai at the table.

"So Oliver is still refusing to admit he has feelings?"

"No, he admits to them, sort of, he's just… I think he's scared."

"Of what?"

"Getting hurt. I mean his best friend just hurt him so it makes sense," Mai mumbled. "But still. Eugh. It's not even like I can say that I wouldn't do that, because up until yesterday, he would have believed Gene wouldn't have either…"

Before Yasuhara could come up with some sort of comforting reply, there was a knock at the door. Mai sighed and got up to answer it.

"I'll—" Yasuhara began.

"Nah, it's fine. I'll go."

Mai left her tea on the table and headed for the front door.

And as if her evening could not get any worse, Marcus stood on the other side.

"Mai-chan!"

He pushed through the front door and Mai's blood boiled. She slammed the door shut and followed him down the hall to the kitchen.

"Mar— What are you doing here?" Yasuhara asked.

"Came to see Mai-chan of course! Seeing as we're going to Singapore together—"

"I haven't even had an email yet!" Mai protested.

This did not seem to bother Marcus in the slightest.

"Doesn't matter. I went and asked the Study Abroad people. They told me you were a strong candidate. That's code for 'you got in'."

Mai gaped at him.

"No it's not!" she argued. "It's code for 'we're not allowed to talk about other people without their consent'."

Marcus rolled his eyes.

"You've got in Mai-chan, you should be happy! We're going together! It's gonna be great for our relationship!"

Yasuhara stepped back at the noise of frustration that emanated from Mai's mouth.

"We have no relationship!" she screamed. "I don't even like you! You just won't take 'no' for an answer!"

Marcus's expression soured a little.

"What did he say to you?"

Mai frowned.

"What?"

"I told that skinny twerp that he should back the fuck off. So what did he say to you?"

"Skinny— Do you mean Oliver? He didn't say—"

"Where is he?" Marcus demanded.

"Marcus—"

"I think you need to calm down," Yasuhara butted in. "This has nothing to do with—"

"Shut the fuck up!"

"Marcus! Just leave!" Mai shouted. "You have no right to barge into my house and insult my—"

The living room door opened and Masako stuck her head out.

"What the—"

"Masako," Marcus growled. "Where is—"

But before he could finish, one of the twins appeared behind Masako and Marcus made a beeline for him.

Masako had the sense to duck as Marcus raised a fist and powered it into the twin's face.

"Gene!" Mai shrieked. "For fucks sake! Marcus! What the fuck are you doing?!"

Gene fell back, staggering and clutching his bleeding nose.

"I'm calling the police," Yasuhara stated, "If you do not leave right now."

Marcus spun around. Yasuhara held his phone in one hand with his finger hovered over the screen.

"Yasuhara—" Mai began, but Marcus started towards him too.

Mai darted between them, which caused Marcus to pause, if only for a second. This gave Masako enough time to kick him hard from behind. Her foot landed squarely between his legs and Marcus went down, groaning.

"Call the police," Masako told Yasuhara. "Now."

Yasuhara moved away from the situation to make the call. Masako knelt down on Marcus's back to hold him in place as he moaned.

Mai looked to each of her housemates in turn. Masako alone seemed calm. Yasuhara was running his hand repeatedly through his hair. Gene was—

"Get up," Oliver muttered. "You'll get blood on the carpet."

Mai watched as Oliver held his hand out to Gene, who grinned with watery eyes and took it. She did not interfere and Oliver helped his brother to the kitchen.

"Wait!" Mai called. "Don't wash it off. It's evidence."

Oliver frowned, but nodded. He sat Gene down on a chair and collected some kitchen roll.

"Don't drip blood anywhere," Oliver muttered. "Otherwise we'll have to tell Mum."

The police turned up ten minutes later and began questioning the entire household. They took Marcus into a separate room to reduce the tension.

"...kicked him so that he wouldn't hurt Mai," Masako finished.

Mai watched her friend out of the corner of her eye and thanked any gods that might happen to have been listening that she had one friend with their head screwed on.

"Miss Taniyama, how long has Mr Jones been harrassing you?"

Mai's attention snapped back to the police officer in front of her.

"Uhh… Since the beginning of the academic year? I guess? He's never been quite like this before but…"

Other snippets of interviews caught her ears.

"... threatened me yesterday…"

"I think he mistook me for my…"

"... and I froze up…"

"Do you want to press charges? This could lead to a restraining order."

"I…" Mai opened and closed her mouth a few times. "I don't know?"

"As it's his first offence, the punishment would likely be—"

"Can't you just… I don't know, take him back to the station and give him a warning and stuff? Like I… Girls get blamed when they get 'promising young men' in trouble…" Mai mumbled.

The police officer gave Mai a pitying look.

"Okay. We can do that. But if this happens again, I would personally recommend pursuing—"

"I know," Mai interrupted. "Just… We can give him a chance. It's the end of term. Everyone is stressed around now so…"

The police officer nodded.

They took Marcus away and the house was suddenly very quiet.

"Can I clean up this blood now?" Gene asked. "They took a picture? Though not from my best side…"

"Has anyone seen Luna?" Mai asked. "I think all the noise might have scared her off…"

Gene went to clean himself up, while the others searched for the kitten.

They found her under Gene's bed. They also found the excrement she had deposited on his bed.

"You know what?" Oliver muttered as he stared at the sloppy cat faeces. "I think I can forgive Gene now…"

There was a moment of silence, and then everyone else burst out laughing.

* * *

 **Author's note: Maybe I ought to rename this story "well that escalated quickly"...?**


	9. Chapter 9: Yasuhara

Yasuhara knew he was not the only one thankful for the peace and quiet in the house in the coming days. Sure, it was still _awkward_ between certain people, but at least everyone was being polite to each other.

One thing the house had collectively agreed over was ensuring that Marcus was seen nowhere near Mai at any point, ever again. Yasuhara was not sure if Mai had realised they were taking it in turns to walk her to lectures etc. But as she had not complained, they continued.

Yasuhara had even seen Oliver leave early for lectures to walk ten feet behind Mai all the way to the university campus and ensure she got to her building without incident. Mai and Oliver still weren't exactly talking…

Then again, neither was he and Gene…

The fact that Gene _liked him_ was still something of a shock to Yasuhara. As far as he was concerned, Gene was out of his league. Like, way out of his league.

But this still left the question of what to do… Did Yasuhara like Gene enough to want to pursue a relationship?

Yasuhara lay on his bed late on Sunday night, contemplating the question. Gene was definitely a good friend — Yasuhara cringed at the memories of him insisting how good a friend Gene was, oh how that must have hurt him — and he was definitely attractive. But Yasuhara did not want Gene to think he was pity-dating him.

He rolled over and shoved his head into his pillow.

What if Yasuhara agreed to a date and it all went horribly wrong? They would still have to live together for at least another six months! Yasuhara could not afford to move and why would Gene move from his parents second house where he had basically free rent?

Yasuhara groaned.

He was overthinking it all. It was late. He needed sleep.

* * *

Yasuhara left his second lecture of the day and started towards the university canteen. It was the last week of the semester and he was done with saving money and being sensible. He was going to pay the extortionate prices and have hot food for lunch and he was not going to stress over the money. He had to last until the end of the week and then he would be home and his parents would feed him to his heart's content.

Yasuhara was so focused on food that he almost walked straight into someone.

"Sorry—" Yasuhara realised who he had bumped into, "Chris! Hey!"

"Hey," Chris responded. "Actually, I'm glad I bumped into you. You remember I asked about your housemate—"

"Gene?"

"Yeah, right, him. Well I've been invited to this end of term party and I was thinking that maybe I could invite him as my date but you never got back to me on that matter so…" Chris trailed off with a hopeful expression plastered across his face.

Yasuhara froze. Shit. He had yet to turn Chris down on Gene's behalf for… For being a _biphobic dickhead_ …

"Actually, Gene is… Seeing someone! Yeah, he's got a boyfriend and so he can't really go on a date with you," Yasuhara lied quickly.

"Oh really…" Chris did not sound convinced.

"Yeah, it's pretty recent but—"

"Why are you lying to me?"

Yasuhara gaped. He was a better liar than this normally. Fuck.

"I'm not—"

"Hey, Yasuhara!"

Both Chris and Yasuhara looked around to see Gene jogging towards them. Yasuhara whinced.

"Gene!"

"Sorry to intrude, I was wondering if you were heading back to the house now or not? I don't think anyone is available to walk Mai home and I'm happy to if no one else is, I can probably make it back in time for my afternoon lectures but—"

"Is it true you're dating someone?" Chris demanded.

Gene blinked stupidly, looked from Yasuhara to Chris and back again.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Gene asked.

"I'm Chris."

"This is the guy I told you about," Yasuhara prompted quickly. "I just let him know you couldn't go out with him because you were already dating."

"Which is a lie," Chris finished.

Gene blinked.

"You're the guy that turned Yasuhara down because he's bi, right?" Gene asked.

"Well yeah."

Yasuhara looked away.

"Oh I see what's happened here," Gene said. Yasuhara could not bring himself to look back around. "Yeah, Yasuhara lied to you in an attempt to spare your feelings. I don't date biphobes."

"I'm sorry, what? Biphobia isn't even real."

"Of course it isn't," Gene muttered. "Come on, Yasuhara, we have better places to be."

Gene started to walk away, but Chris shouted after him.

"I would have dated him if he'd just picked a damn side!"

Gene stopped dead in his tracks.

"Just leave it," Yasuhara urged.

Gene growled.

"I'm only leaving it because the last time I punched someone I got puked on," Gene hissed.

"Come and get some lunch with me," Yasuhara said. "My treat, come on."

"But Mai—"

"Is a grown woman, she'll be fine. We can't babysit her forever."

"But—"

"Food. Now. I am starving."

Gene gave in.

"Fine, but I'm going to text her."

Yasuhara rolled his eyes. Together they walked the remainder of the way to the canteen, each picked up a large portion of lasagne and chips and found a table.

"Hmm, food was a good call," Gene muttered. "Thank you, I'll pay you back for this."

"Nah, we're good. You saved me from Chris. I'm usually better at lying but he just saw straight through it."

"Yeah," Gene agreed. "For a lawyer in training I would expect better."

"Cheers…"

"Besides, I have a bone to pick with you on that front. I thought you said he was — and I quote — 'super cute'. That guy was like a five slash six."

Yasuhara paled.

"Well… I wouldn't say he was out of my league," Yasuhara mumbled. "But he's up there for me…"

"Yasuhara, you can do way better than a five."

"I thought you said he was a six."

"That was too generous. I'm downgrading him to a five on looks alone. He goes down to a two if we add in personality."

Yasuhara chuckled nervously.

"Alright then, well what should I be aiming for?"

"Well at least a ten, duh," Gene said.

Yasuhara right out belly laughed at this.

"Gene, seriously, if I can't get a five to date me I'm not—" he cut himself off, remembering Gene's crush on him. "Where do you put yourself on this scale?"

"Where would you like to put me?" Gene asked.

Yasuhara suddenly felt very hot under the collar. Was Gene flirting with him? He tried to keep his cool.

"Ooh, I don't know. Maybe an eight?"

"Well then, if you're not up for a ten right away, you could start with a 'maybe eight'..."

Yasuhara blinked. Definitely flirting. Wait, of course Gene was flirting. Gene liked him. Yasuhara's cheeks flared red.

"Is your lasagne too hot?" Gene asked. "You look a little flushed."

"You're too hot," Yasuhara retorted without thinking, causing Gene to choke on his next mouthful. "Shit, are you okay?"

Gene managed to swallow his food and reached for his cup of water. After a hasty gulp, he grinned at Yasuhara.

"Yeah I'm fine."

"Maybe we should park the flirting until we've both finished eating."

"So you want to continue flirting after we've finished eating?" Gene asked, without missing a beat.

"I— uh— Maybe?"

Gene looked down at his food.

"Sorry, I shouldn't push it."

"No, it's fine," Yasuhara said. "I just… Like I never even thought about you that way because you are so out of my league. My brain hasn't got used to the idea that someone like you could like me…"

"You really shouldn't idolise me like that. Like I fuck up too. Look at what happened last week. I'm human too."

"Yeah but you're clever and gorgeous and…"

"Have had the biggest crush on you for months. Noll called me pathetic a while back because I literally just stared at the door after you left through it for like ten minutes." Gene sighed. "Like, I'm happy for us to be just friends, I value your friendship more than anything. But if that's the case, I want it to be because you want us to be friends. Not because you think you're not good enough to do anything else."

Yasuhara gaped, unsure what to say. Gene finished eating his lasagne and checked the time.

"I should get going, I have a lecture to get to… See you later."

"Yeah… See you…"

Yasuhara watched Gene walk away with a strange sensation in his stomach. He mindlessly continued to eat his own food and then headed to his next lecture.

But he could not concentrate. All he could think about was Gene.

What would be different about their relationship if they were _together_ , he wondered. They would get to spend more time together. They would probably cook together. They would probably touch more.

Yasuhara felt the blood rush from his face.

Well, at least he was sure he was not opposed to that part of a relationship…

Yasuhara groaned and tried, once again, to turn his attention back to the lecture.

* * *

 **Author's note: Thank you all for your reviews, I'm trying to get better about replying to them! I need to finish this story today because camp nano starts tomorrow and I haven't finished this yet... Almost there though. My usual crappy rushed endings aside, please review :)**


	10. Chapter 10: Mai

Mai knew it was coming. She had known ever since she'd received _that text_ from _him_. But it still hurt. The finality of it stung.

 **Dear Miss Taniyama,**

 **We regret to inform you…**

She did not need to read any further. Tears slipped down her face and into her lap. From the floor, Luna meowed loudly at her. Mai reached down and scooped the kitten up.

"I'm sorry, Luna…" she whimpered. "I'm sorry."

Luna meowed again and curled up in Mai's lap.

"At least this way I can stay with you right? If I'd gone then I would have to leave you behind…"

She gently stroked the top of Luna's head. The softness of her fur soothed Mai a little.

Other parts of the email caught Mai's attention out of the corner of her eye.

 **...a lot of strong applicants this year…**

 **...not received a place on the waiting list…**

 **...all the best…**

"All the best," Mai repeated. "How can they wish me all the best when they've crushed my hopes, huh? How is that fair?"

Luna did not answer.

Mai wiped her eyes and slammed the lid of her laptop down. Luna hissed at the sound, but Mai did not hear her. No, she was consumed by her own grief. She sobbed hysterically and without restraint.

For the second time in as many weeks, she chose to skip lectures for the day. She did not want to see her classmates. She did not want to see the people that had been accepted.

Mai did not hear the knock at the door, but she did notice it opening. She looked up.

"Oliver?"

She wiped her eyes and tried to get hold of her breathing.

"I boiled too much water," Oliver said. "So I brought you tea."

He placed a mug down on her desk.

"Thank you."

"Do you… Do you want company?" Oliver was staring at the floor.

"Oh no, it's okay," Mai managed to say. She sniffed and forced a smile. "I don't want to impose."

"Last week I pushed away someone I cared about when I was upset and later regretted it." He was still staring at the floor.

"Oliver, I know you're not—"

"I would not have come if I did not want to be here."

"I—"

"Are you trying to politely tell me to go away?" Oliver asked. He nodded, a slight frown marring his features. "I'll go away, I'm sorry."

He turned and began to walk away. Mai jumped up from the bed, startling poor Luna in the process. The cat slunk away as Mai reached after Oliver. She grabbed his t-shirt.

"Wait…" Oliver stopped and so Mai continued, "Does this… Does this change anything between us? Now that I'm not going?"

"I'm not a consolation prize."

"That's not what I meant…" Mai whispered. She let go of his t-shirt, but he did not move. "I wanted you just as much yesterday as today. You were the one that that…"

"I did not want to get hurt."

"I know."

"I'm still sca…"

"I know," Mai murmured.

"I was going to offer to look after Luna for you if you got in," Oliver said.

"Thank you…"

"You should drink your tea."

Mai nodded and retreated back into her room. She closed the door and sat down, with cup of tea in one hand.

Her shoulders sagged.

She sipped at the tea — watery and under brewed, honestly, consider how much Oliver liked tea, he had no patience to make it well — and tried to clear her head.

She was not going abroad. That meant she needed somewhere to live for the next academic year. She opened her laptop again and began writing an email to Luella, hoping she'd be allowed to stay on for another year. However awkward things might be between her and Oliver, the rent was too cheap to turn down.

What else? She wouldn't have to pick her courses for next year yet. There was nothing else she _needed_ to worry about for now. Which meant she had nothing to _distract_ her from thoughts of Oliver.

She scowled, downed the rest of the crappy tea, and stormed out of her room. She headed straight for Oliver's room and barged in without knocking.

Oliver, who had evidently been pacing up and down his room, paused and glanced around.

"Mai?"

"Yes," Mai agreed. "That's me."

"What do you want?"

"I want to point out that you're being ridiculous and that there is now no reason for us not to be together other than you being daft. I can only think of like three things that will change if we get together and quite frankly, every single one of them would be an improvement."

Oliver raised an eyebrow, but Mai did not back down.

"And those three things would be?"

"First, I will be making your tea from now on because your tea making is shit. Second, we get to spend more time together…"

"What was the third thing?" Oliver asked.

Mai opened her mouth to speak, went bright red and licked her lips.

"Well, uh…"

"Yes?"

"Maybe, I could get a hug off of you now and then…" Her voice progressively got quieter and quieter. "And maybe, a kiss, or something… I don't know…" Mai stared avidly at her fluffy socks.

"So you only want me for my body?"

Mai's eyes darted up.

"What? No!"

Oliver's face broke into a smirk. Mai narrowed her eyes at him.

"You're teasing me!" she accused. "I'm trying to be serious here!"

Oliver's smirk relaxed into a smile.

"I would have hugged you earlier if you had accepted my offer of comfort."

"I want hugs when I'm not upset too," Mai said, pouting. "Not all the time, I know you're not big on physical stuff but just… Just occasionally..."

"I'm sure that can be arranged."

"So… Does that mean we can…?" Mai stepped closer to Oliver and stared up into his eyes.

He matched her gaze, and his smile did not falter.

"Mai, would you… Would you like to be my girlfriend?"

Mai beamed.

"Yes, I would."

Oliver reached down and pressed a light kiss to Mai's forehead.

A sudden loud meow caused them both to look down at Luna.

"Have you fed her yet this morning?" Oliver asked.

"Crap, no I haven't."

Mai started towards the bedroom door, Luna racing ahead of her.

"And you mentioned making me tea?" Oliver called.

Mai rolled her eyes. Oliver followed her down to the kitchen and located a packet of biscuits. Mai fed Luna and made two cups of tea. The two young adults made their way through to the lounge and took a seat on the sofa.

Oliver offered an arm out and Mai frowned.

"You said you wanted hugs?"

"I don't want to—"

"I would not have offered," Oliver said, "If I was not happy with it."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Mai smiled and leant into her _boyfriend_. She giggled at the very thought. Oliver offered her a biscuit, which she took, and they sat in silence for a few minutes.

"I think you should come and stay with my parents over the winter break," Oliver said.

"Why?"

"Well, otherwise you'll be alone here," he reasoned. "Whereas if you come and stay, you can keep my mother off my back and you won't be alone."

"I feel like this is a better deal for you, than me," Mai teased.

"Mai, if you stay here, we'll have to keep the heating and electricity on for two weeks for only one person. It's not very environmentally friendly or particularly efficient."

"I think you care more for efficiency than the environment. But supposing that I agree to this, would your parents mind? What about Gene?"

"Gene still feels guilty enough about last week that he'd agree to being skinned alive if I suggested it to him right now."

Mai pulled a face.

"And your parents?"

Oliver dug his phone out from his pocket and phoned his mother. He put the call on speakerphone.

"Noll? Is that you? Has Gene done something stupid again?" Luella's voice burst out of the speaker.

"No, Mother. Not as far as I am aware," Oliver replied with a heavy sigh.

"Then why are you calling me? Aren't you supposed to be in lectures?"

"I don't have a lecture right now."

"Then—"

"I want Mai to stay with us over the holidays so we don't have to heat the whole house with only one person in it."

"Mai? Now if I've got this right," Luella said. "Gene said she was the girl you fancied, is that right? The one he told your secret to?"

"How do you—"

"I gave Gene a good scolding after your last call."

Mai bit her lip and buried her head into Oliver's chest. She felt like she was intruding, but Oliver had not taken the call off of speaker.

"Good. But Mai's stalker punched him and her cat shat on his bed so we've made up now."

"Oliver! Language!"

"Fine, Mai's cat defecated on Gene's bed—"

"And what do you mean by 'Mai's stalker'? How can you possibly think of letting her stay in that house alone if she has a stalker! Have you gone to the police?"

"He's been warned by the police to leave her alone," Oliver said.

"Well she is coming here, I will not hear another word about the matter. And you said she has a cat? The cat will have to come too, but I'll be covering up the nice furniture. Is the animal trained?"

"She uses a litter tray?"

"Excellent. Okay well, do you have enough room in your car to bring her back too?"

"Yes."

"Because I can come and get you all if—"

"It'll be fine."

"Okay, well if you're sure."

"I am, oh and Mother?"

"Yes?"

"Mai's my girlfriend."

Oliver hit the 'end call' button and promptly turned his phone off.

"You can't just hang up on her!" Mai squealed.

"I can. Besides, she'll be revolting if I don't. This way she might have calmed down by the weekend."

At that moment, Luna jumped up onto the sofa and crept over Mai's lap and tried to squeeze into the small gap between Mai and Oliver's legs.

"I think someone is jealous," Oliver muttered.

Mai just laughed.

* * *

 **Author's note: Because these two have to have a happy ending right?**


	11. Chapter 11: Yasuhara

So the entire household noticed that Mai and Oliver were together within the space of about five minutes. Primarily because Luella had phoned Gene — in the middle of a lecture — to demand the full details and Gene had then been on Yasuhara and Masako's cases to find out more.

Yasuhara watched the new couple out of the corner of his eye all evening. Nothing much had changed, but he spotted the little smiles they sent each other when they thought no one was looking. He found himself pouting at them, he wanted someone to send him little smiles.

Masako sidled up to him as he ate his dinner that night.

"You know the solution to your little problem is quite simple, right?"

"I don't have a problem," Yasuhara muttered.

"Sure you don't," Masako replied.

"Why don't you worry about your own love life?"

"I already have the cinema tickets bought and the reservation at my favourite italian restaurant for this Friday, not much else I can do," Masako said. "Besides, I never said your problem was about your love life, you made that connection all by yourself." She sighed. "And to think you're training to be a lawyer."

Yasuhara scowled as Masako slunk away. This was the second time that _someone_ had affected his ability to reason — and lie — effectively.

"Damnit."

"You alright in there?" Mai called from the kitchen.

"Uh, yes! I just… Burnt my tongue!"

"Be careful!"

Yasuhara finished eating his food and joined Oliver and Mai in the kitchen, where they were cooking their own dinner. He washed up his plate and dried it, idly wondering what to do.

"Say, Mai?"

"Yes?" Both Mai and Oliver turned to face Yasuhara. "What is it?"

"Say I, hypothetically, wanted to take someone on a date, where would be a good place? If I have limited money and need to do it before Saturday?"

Mai smirked.

"Hypothetically?"

"Yes, a purely hypothetical question," Yasuhara insisted.

"Spoons is cheap," Oliver provided.

"Spoons isn't exactly romantic though," Mai argued.

"Yeah, but Gene wouldn't care," Oliver said. "He'd be happy that Yasuhara was showing even a modicum of interest in him."

"Well, true, but—"

"But Gene would go halves on a meal out," Oliver went on. "So could go somewhere a bit nicer."

"Yeah, but Masako is going to that italian on Friday, so they can't go there," Mai said.

Yasuhara watched them go back and forth, deciding it was best not to interrupt.

"Yes, it's not big enough to be not weird," Oliver agreed. "That gourmet burger place isn't too expensive. I think they do a student discount too."

"True, and eating something messy could be an ice breaker. And the milkshakes are good."

"They have a good vegetarian selection too, but Gene wouldn't care about that."

"The korean barbeque place? Or the indian opposite it?"

"Barbeque is a possibility," Mai agreed. "But curry can be a laxative which is not attractive if Yasuhara wants to take Gene home with him."

"They live together," Oliver pointed out.

"Read between the lines," Mai advised.

"Oh."

"Thank you! For you suggestions!" Yasuhara interjected. "I'll take your suggestions into account for my hypothetical potential date."

He hastened from the room, embarrassed that Mai thought he would put out on the first date. Not that it wasn't true, but to be called out on it like that… If the date went well he would totally put out…

Yasuhara shook his head and tried to rid himself of those thoughts. He locked himself in his room and attempted to sort through his various notes for the week. He needed to start packing to go back to his parents. What materials did he need for revision?

After a little effort, he managed to focus on this task. That is, until someone knocked on his door.

"Come in?"

Gene stuck his head through the door.

"Hey, Mai mentioned that you were thinking of going to that gourmet burger place with some friends? I've got this voucher for a free milkshake there if you want it?"

"Gene, I…"

"It's okay, I'm not offended you want to take someone out, honestly, it's fi—"

"I want to take you out," Yasuhara blurted.

He looked up to see Gene's face reddening.

"R-really?" Gene hid his face behind his hands then peaked out from behind them. "Really?"

"Yes," Yasuhara mumbled. "If you want to that is…"

"I do!"

"Well—"

"Let's go now!" Gene suggested.

"What? But—"

"Just out for a drink, nothing more. It'll be less stressful than a whole meal. And if things go… Well then we're just two mates going out for a pint or whatever," Gene went on.

Yasuhara bit his lip.

"But I haven't had time to get ready or anything!"

Gene frowned.

"Get ready? You look fine as you are, though?"

"I don't know, just, give me five minutes?"

Gene shrugged.

"Okay, meet you by the door in five then."

Gene left. Yasuhara grabbed his hair in his hands and stared manically around his room. What on earth did he _wear_? Did his hair look okay? Where was his aftershave? Did he smell? Five minutes definitely wasn't enough time to shower.

"Shit!"

Yasuhara grabbed a can of deodorant and refreshed his armpits. He then grabbed his nicest jeans and pulled them on. The t-shirt he was wearing looked okay. Okay enough, anyway.

His hair. Where was his hairbrush? Did he even own a hairbrush?

After rummaging around in some drawers, he found a comb and his aftershave. Yasuhara forced the comb through his hair until it looks semi-respectable and then squirted his neck with aftershave.

Jacket. It was winter. He needed a jacket.

He ignored his waterproof. Waterproof coats were great. But they weren't attractive. He needed to look good. Leather jacket. That looked good, right?

He pulled it on and checked himself out in the mirror. Yasuhara signed.

He looked—

"Fine."

Yasuhara jumped a foot in the air and spun around.

"Mai! Jeesh! You gave me a heart attack!"

Mai giggled from where she stood, just inside his doorway.

"You look fine," she said.

"I look like I'm trying too hard."

Mai rolled her eyes.

"Gene is already smitten with you," she pointed out. "He's already seen you in your pyjamas and when you've stayed up too late studying and stuff. And he's still into you. So just relax, will you?"

Yasuhara took a deep breath.

"Sorry."

"Don't be. Oliver had to go and calm Gene down so I thought I'd check on you."

"Calm him down?"

"I think he was having the same panic as you were," Mai said, giggling again. "Now get out of this room and go and enjoy a night out."

Mai frogmarched Yasuhara out of his bedroom and into the hallway. Gene was being followed down the stairs by Oliver. Mai beamed at the pair.

"Right, now, off you two go," she said.

Yasuhara moved towards the door, Gene followed in his wake, both of them too embarrassed to speak.

Just before the front door closed behind them, Mai called out Yasuhara's name.

"Yeah?" he said, turning back.

Mai stepped outside, wincing as the cold pavement hit her toes, and darted up to the pair. She pulled something from her pocket and tucked one in each of Gene and Yasuhara's own pockets.

Yasuhara frowned, pulled his _thing_ out, and his face promptly went scarlet. He pocketed it again.

"Be safe!" she teased and ran back inside, shutting the door promptly behind her.

"What on—" Gene pulled his own _thing_ out of his pocket. "Oh my! Mai! I'm not! We're not!" He turned to Yasuhara. "I didn't ask her to do that!"

Yasuhara did the only thing that he could do. He laughed.

Gene gaped at him, then laughed too.

Yasuhara offered Gene his hand. Gene took it. They walked together in the vague direction of the nearest pub.

"Why… Why did you agree to come out with me?" Gene asked after a few minutes silence.

"Honestly?"

"Hmm."

"Because you're affecting my performance."

"What?"

"I can't lie properly any more! I'm studying to be a lawyer Gene! I can't be a decent lawyer if every time I think about you I get all muddled!"

"And you think dating me is going to help?" Gene asked.

"I bloody well hope so! But if I am doomed, I'd rather…" he trailed off.

"Rather what?"

"I'd rather be muddled with you than without you…"

Gene looked away, his face reddening again.

"You're really cute," Gene mumbled. "I'm glad we're trying this."

"Me too, if only because I need to be able to lie by this weekend."

"Why?" Gene asked.

"I've got to go home!" Yasuhara explained. "Go home and pretend like I want to be there."

"You don't?"

Yasuhara groaned.

"Well, I don't mind going back to my parents for a few days, but it gets tiring after a while. They live in a tiny village with nothing to do. That's why I chose to come to this town for university. It's big enough that there are things to do! And enough public transport that I can get to them!"

"You could come visit me! Mai is staying over! It'd be just like being here… But Mum will feed us all!"

Yasuhara grinned.

"I'd like that, but I think my own mother would complain…"

"Yeah, fair. She probably misses you. I know I would."

Yasuhara blushed. Gene blushed. And together, they walked into the night.

* * *

 **Author's note: These two are the worst. The last chapter is more like a little epilogue than anything else! Then maybe I should start putting out this new regency story... What do you think? It's mairu arranged marriage... Sort of?**


	12. Chapter 12: Masako

"So how are your housemates?" Sophie asked as she twirled pasta around her fork. "Is everyone still fighting?"

"Oh that?" Masako replied. "No, they're all friends again now. Oh and Mai and Oliver are dating—"

"He's the one that puked right?"

"Yeah."

"Well that's good."

"And so are Gene and Yasuhara. They went out for a drink the other night and came home together..."

"But they live together?"

"Oh, they might live together, but usually they sleep in separate beds."

Sophie laughed.

"So you're fifth-wheeling?"

"Eh, kind of? But to be honest, I'm just glad the drama has finished."

"Is it true Marcus got arrested?"

"Sort of? The police took him to the station and gave him a warning, I'm not if that counts as being properly arrested," Masako said. "But he has left Mai alone since."

"I'm glad, he was a bit weird."

"Yeah, I literally had to shout that I was a lesbian at him to make him leave me alone," Masako said.

Sophie almost choked on her pasta.

"You had to say what?"

"That I was a lesbian…"

Masako's eyes widened.

"Masako?"

"Yes?"

"Is this…? Is this a date?" Sophie asked.

"Uhhh… No? Just two gals being pals!"

"Uh huh…"

Masako stared pointedly at her food.

"Unless you'd like it to be a date…"

"Oh no," Sophie said, smirking. "I would hate to ruin our _just gals being pals_ evening out."

Masako gulped.

"But maybe next time… Maybe next time we could make it a date."

Sophie smiled, and Masako returned it.

"Maybe we could."

* * *

 **Author's note: This was just a quick epilogue/omake! I think I will start posting the regency story soon! Review with when you want it :)**


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